The Innovators' suspicions about Reid ultimately remained just suspicions. Tieria had already lost consciousness before the Blood Lily made their entrance, completely unaware of who had left him stranded on the beach.
Moreover, there was no evidence linking the Blood Lily to Reid's team. Most crucially, unless Reid revealed himself voluntarily, the Innovators had no means of locating him.
Fortunately, Reid didn't keep the Innovators waiting too long.
Half a month after Gundam Virtue's defeat, in a hotpot restaurant within the Land of Abundance territory of the Human Revolutionary Alliance, Reid was treating the off-duty crew members of Gran Chaos to hotpot.
Reid had booked the entire restaurant for the day. This time, Hoshino Ruri was also present. Watching her fan her tongue and pant from the spiciness, Reid found it utterly adorable.
For Reid, it had been a long time since he'd tasted authentic spicy hotpot. Even in Australia within the CE Universe, what passed for spicy hotpot was just made from flavoring packets. He didn't dare venture casually into the Internal East Asian Republic.
But here in the AD Universe, this wasn't a problem. While Gran Chaos's quantum computer couldn't directly confront VEDA, it was capable of operating under VEDA's radar without detection. With this protection, along with some simple disguises, even the three members of Gaia's Trio - whose photos were posted in intelligence agencies worldwide - could visit bars in smaller European and American countries.
Reid's public appearance this time came after Hoshino Ruri discovered an ID called "Beautiful and Moving Little Lumi" (Hong Long) had posted a bounty challenge on the Earth's Cloud Security Alliance Forum, inviting peers to breach a security framework they had developed.
Such minor challenges were common on the forum. Typically, the reward money converted to various currencies would only amount to about 100 Celestial Being credits in purchasing power, so they didn't attract much attention.
However, Hoshino Ruri enjoyed these puzzles. After finding a European host to use as a proxy, she completed this moderately difficult challenge and discovered a message from the author: "SDP, want to communicate?"
Normally, this phrase wouldn't raise any red flags - SDP being the code for Software Defined Perimeter.
But Hoshino Ruri realized that this SDP might refer to the designation Reid had used when revealing himself to the Innovators. After all, when she thought about it now, this ID was quite revealing.
Hoshino Ruri was extremely confident in her networking skills. If even she found it challenging, ordinary people would never be able to complete it.
After reporting to Reid, he decided to test the waters. After all, the Innovators had been relatively restrained, and his information hadn't been leaked worldwide.
He estimated that Alejandro Corner and Ribbons Almark must have broken out in cold sweat upon receiving Wang Liu Mei's news. Being mere mortals themselves, encountering assassins capable of teleportation meant their heads wouldn't withstand bullets any better than ordinary people's.
So this time, Reid came to the Land of Abundance for spicy hotpot without any concealment. Grodek Ainoa temporarily assumed command, keeping Gran Chaos on standby at high altitude, while the easily recognizable Black Tri-Stars also remained on standby in their cloaked mass-produced Wing Gundams.
Sure enough, when Reid and the others were halfway through their spicy hotpot meal, Wang Liu Mei appeared with Hong Long.
Seeing their arrival, Reid said very politely,
"It seems I wasn't mistaken. Now that you're both here, please take a seat."
Wang Liu Mei naturally took her seat without any hesitation, but Hong Long remained standing behind her like a bodyguard.
Seeing this, Reid sighed helplessly and spoke again, "Hong Long, guests are guests. Please sit down. It's odd for all of us to be gathered around the table enjoying hotpot while you stand and watch."
Wang Liu Mei, noticing the situation, smiled and said, "Hong Long, since Mr. Reid has said so, as hosts we must not be impolite in our own country. Take a seat."
Upon hearing this, Hong Long promptly turned to prepare Wang Liu Mei's dipping sauce, fetch drinks, and arrange for security personnel to replace the serving staff before finally returning to sit down.
Reid didn't mind that Hong Long had replaced the restaurant's servers with Wang family members, as his senses told him that Wang Liu Mei had only brought six people besides Hong Long. Moreover, through his built-in earpiece, Gaia and the others hadn't alerted him to anyone surrounding the hotpot restaurant from a distance.
Once Hong Long was seated, Wang Liu Mei smiled and began her usual probing, asking, "Mr. Reid, why didn't you contact me when you came to Celestial Being? The Wang family has some connections here and could certainly have shown you some hospitality."
Reid immediately retorted without hesitation, "Heh, Miss Wang, have you forgotten? We have our own allies in Celestial Being and don't need the Wang family's assistance."
Wang Liu Mei glanced at the Xia sisters at Reid's table and said with a smile, "So these two sisters are your helpers in Celestial Being? As expected of a mysterious organization hidden throughout history. What are your names, sisters? Wang Liu Mei pays her respects."
Wang Liu Mei was actually trying to probe the Xia sisters' identities through their names.
However, Reid was least concerned about identity checks, so he gave the Xia sisters a look.
Seeing Reid's signal to respond normally, they answered indifferently, "Xia Yufang." "Xia Yulan."
For complete strangers, this level of response from the Xia sisters was already quite good.
Wang Liu Mei, being quite skilled in social interactions, recognized that these two were likely the type who were fierce but spoke little, so she didn't press further. Instead, she silently committed their names to memory, resolving to investigate thoroughly which branch of the Xia family they belonged to in history.
Meanwhile, Hong Long was staring intently at Xia Yufang. He remembered Reid shouting "Yufang, stop!" last time. So, she was the one who had injured him at the border villa in the Mollaria Republic. Thus, he watched her with unusual focus.
However, Hong Long's gaze was too obvious, to the point where Wang Liu Mei found it somewhat unbearable and interjected, "Hong Long, staring so intently at a young woman is very impolite."
Hong Long immediately averted his eyes and apologized, "My apologies."
Reid didn't really mind Hong Long's stare, as his Newtype senses told him that Hong Long was mainly wary of Yufang and harbored some unresolved frustration, without any ill intentions. So, he deliberately changed the subject, addressing Hong Long directly, "Alright, Mr. Hong Long—or rather, I should call you 'Beautiful and Moving Little Lumi'—I received your meeting request on the Cloud Security Alliance Forum and made time to come. So, what exactly did you need from us?"
Reid's act of exposing his online ID on the spot made even Hong Long struggle to maintain composure, his face flushing slightly.
Wang Liu Mei also blushed and kicked Hong Long in the shin, whispering sharply, "What kind of awful ID did you pick? Change it when we get back!"
Seeing this, Reid decisively added fuel to the fire:
"Miss Wang, Hong Long... no, Mr. Wang is just expressing his affection for his adorable sister online. I think it's quite normal."
After Reid said this, Wang Liu Mei grew even more furious and embarrassed. However, she suddenly realized that Reid seemed to be deliberately provoking her emotions, so she quickly calmed down.
After taking a sip of her iced drink to cool off, Wang Liu Mei decisively skipped the awkward topic:
"Actually, I asked Hong Long to find you. After all, Reid, you're as elusive as a dragon—if you don't show yourself voluntarily, there's no way I could track you down."
Reid nodded; this was entirely expected. He then asked:
"Alright, so what did you need from me, Miss Wang?"
Wang Liu Mei was unusually straightforward and honest in her reply:
"Some people don't dare to see you in person and only dare to have me relay messages or deliver items. Also, I personally have many questions I'd like to ask you."
Reid nodded and made a gesture of invitation, saying:
"Fine, go ahead and deliver the message directly. As for the questions, I'll decide whether to answer based on what they are."
Seeing Reid's response, Wang Liu Mei stood up, put on a professional smile, and held an ordinary glass in her left hand as if it were a wine glass, saying:
"Please relay this message to Mr. Reid for me: I understand his intentions. Our Corner family would naturally not disregard the safety of all humanity. Therefore, regarding the foreign entities from other worlds invading reality, the Corner family is willing to fully assist your organization in eliminating them."
Reid knew that Wang Liu Mei was imitating Alejandro Corner's mannerisms and tone, so he laughed and said:
"The Corner family—their ambitions far exceed their capabilities. 'A man who wants too much risks losing everything'—that saying fits them perfectly.
Never mind, Miss Wang, please relay a message for me. Tell him I appreciate the Corner family's understanding, and if needed, we will contact him proactively."
Hearing this, Wang Liu Mei immediately asked in confusion:
"Huh? Relay a message for you?"
Reid knew what she was asking—after all, he had deliberately phrased it that way—so he nodded and said:
"Yes, relay a message for me. I personally cannot represent the organization; the only ones I can command are this operations team."
Wang Liu Mei nodded, thinking to herself that what Tem Ray had said seemed to be true—this so-called organization hidden throughout history might indeed be very loosely structured.
With that in mind, Wang Liu Mei sat down again, took a data disk from her pocket, and continued:
"This is what Ribbons asked me to pass on to you. He said that if there's an opportunity in the future, he will seek you out himself. Ribbons is clearly very interested in what you mentioned about Innovator abilities. As for what's on this data disk, or whether it contains any viruses, I have no idea. He just told me to give this to you."
Hearing this, Reid immediately became interested in the data disk. Whether it contained viruses didn't really matter—he would simply take it back to the CE Universe and have the Factory Module analyze it.
As the saying goes, if they have the skill to hack the system, he'd surrender without a fight. Otherwise, any so-called virus would only help improve Reid's own cyber-attack capabilities.
So, Reid felt that Ribbons was actually trying to show goodwill—the data on this disk might very well be quite valuable.
As for the reason behind Ribbons' goodwill, it was simply because, without control over VEDA, he was in no position to challenge Reid.
From Ribbons' perspective, Reid knew his name and most likely his location as well. With very few means of self-protection at hand, if Reid were to come looking for trouble in a Mobile Suit, he could only play the mouse, hiding underground and not showing his face, because resistance would be suicide.
So Reid accepted the data disk, had Nein perform a quick scan to confirm there were no additional transmitters on it, and then stored it away.
Afterward, Reid said to Wang Liu Mei,
"I can roughly guess what Ribbons Almark means. Help me reply to him: I won't actively participate in his plan unless the Otherworld Entanglement happens to descend."
Wang Liu Mei nodded, indicating she had remembered, then flashed a bright smile and said,
"Alright, now it's my turn. Actually, it's mostly to satisfy my curiosity.
Reid, can you perform that teleportation trick from last time again? I'd like to see it once more."
Upon hearing this, Reid directly exchanged a fingernail-sized piece of E Carbon Steel from the system and had it dropped from ten centimeters above Wang Liu Mei's head.
Then came Wang Liu Mei's "Ouch!" as she clutched her head and looked down to see what had hit her.
The small piece of E Carbon Steel was quickly found by Wang Liu Mei, who then looked up in confusion at the clearly non-metallic ceiling of the hot pot restaurant. She turned to Reid and asked,
"Did you drop this?"
Reid didn't answer. Instead, he exchanged another piece of E Carbon Steel of the same size, this time setting its appearance ten centimeters away from Wang Liu Mei. With a "clang," it landed in her bone china bowl.
Now Wang Liu Mei was certain the metal had appeared out of thin air. Her mouth hung wide open in disbelief.
Reid, feeling particularly mischievous, said to Hong Long,
"Mr. Wang, why don't you scoop an egg for your sister? I feel like her mouth is big enough to swallow one whole right now."
Hong Long naturally wouldn't follow Reid's suggestion, or he'd risk facing Wang Liu Mei's household discipline. (Wang Liu Mei is the head of the Wang family, and this discipline is very real.)
Wang Liu Mei, snapping out of her daze upon hearing Reid's words, exclaimed with awe,
"So even something this small can be teleported? Doesn't that make you practically invincible? You could just send this into someone's brain and kill anyone you want."
Reid shook his head. He knew he had to keep his deception of Wang Liu Mei within limits, or she might eventually see through the flaws upon closer reflection. So he said,
"You're overthinking it. The spacetime distortion model provided by Dr. Tem Ray is real. You should know how much energy and technical difficulty it takes to operate such a model.
So, I don't understand much beyond that—after all, I'm not a technical expert. But the environment where coordinates are set can't be too complex. In fact, the model works best in a vacuum. In an atmospheric environment, it's heavily restricted. Teleporting into a human body is out of the question—the coordinates simply can't be pinpointed."
Wang Liu Mei's eyes gleamed shrewdly as she asked,
"Oh? Volunteering so many secrets? Are you trying to get me to help you with something?"
Reid didn't deny it and replied directly,
"Yes. The organization doesn't allow me to get too involved with the Innovators. But I have my own ideas. So, at certain times in the future, I'll ask you to do some things. The information I just shared counts as a down payment.
Of course, you could choose to take it for free. But believe me, losing my trust would cost you far more than the trivial information about teleportation I just revealed."
Wang Liu Mei frowned slightly at this moment, expressing her annoyance with people who spoke in riddles, insisting on revealing things only at the last moment and leaving no time for preparation or decision-making.
However, Wang Liu Mei knew she couldn't refuse Reid right now, so she said with a smile:
"Alright, I'll consider whether to help or freeload after you tell me the specifics."
Reid chuckled. In the storyline, Wang Liu Mei was known for placing multiple bets, so he wasn't worried about her refusing to help. Without saying more, he continued enjoying the hotpot.
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